Rachel Maddow Claims Senate Democrats Have Grown Spines

The search for a Democratic spine has consumed more than a decade, almost two. Signs of one were briefly located in Howard Dean, but the party's antibodies seem to have rejected him. Signs of small ones have been seen in the House although the incidence is very erratic. Now Rachel Maddow claims that two “major power brokers,” unnamed, are trying to inject one into Harry Reid by having the party strip committee chairmanships and subcommittee chairmanships for anyone who voted to support a GOP filibuster on health care reform.

My guess is that this is atmospherics designed to spur the uncertain rather than something that can actually happen. Do spines grow back after they atrophy?